The power of visual thinking

Using Powerpoint to make sense of conflicting thoughts might sound really counter intuitive to an artist but when seen alongside your sketchbook and a hand drawn mindmap, it can go a long way in revealing where you’re really at with your studio work. It all started...

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Look again at the humble sketchbook

If my studio went up in flames, what would I grab first? Without question - my big black sketchbooks. I began using this kind of sketchbook in the early 2000s and they contain what feels like the most significant stages of my creative career. A3 size, black,...

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What closeups in photography reveal

Spoiler alert – I’m not very patient when photographing my artwork up close. But I’m really interested in seeing what the camera reveals so am doing it over a period of time, allowing a breathing space for reflection. Once again I see that one of the best advantages...

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Seeing things from a fresh perspective in the studio

One of the best things about going away is coming back and seeing things from a fresh perspective. I’ve had a short break away from the familiar day to day events and on coming back into my new look studio, what struck me most is its clean brightness and how...

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Exploring dissonance

For the past few months I’ve been thinking about the ways in which dissonance is an underlying factor in my work. I’m particularly drawn to the notion of tension between disparate materials and processes and how their interaction can determine the direction the work...

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Dealing with ‘the void’

Recently I read a Facebook post by an artist, an older woman, where she writes of her despair when faced with what she calls ‘the void’, where she feels she ‘has no sense of skill to fall back on, no accumulated sense of accomplishment’.[1] Writers would call it the...

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Present – yet unseen

These images no longer exist as works in their own right. They have been absorbed into the latest form I’ve been making in my ongoing chrysalis series; their subtlety now remains hidden beneath stitched folds of silk and metal. Only I know they exist – they are...

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